breastfeeding in the supermarket

[wtfisgoingonhere]

Ok so I'm all for breastfeeding and think all mums should (assuming mother/baby are able to) but WALKING AROUND SAINSBURYS breastfeeding. . . Seriously? ?

Maybe it's only me that's shocked and I am not a mum myself if that makes a difference.
Don't get me wrong I certainly disagree with mums being ushered into toilets and the like but I felt a bit of modesty could have avoided awkwardness for both mum and others she may come across.

I have no issue with nudity either, i enjoy sunbathing topless and strolling around my home in various states of undress but I couldn't imagine ever feeling comfortable doing this myself

The last thing I expected on a Saturday afternoon trip to sainsburys was to round the corner of an aisle to come face to face with a woman with her top down and FULL BOOB OUT (I saw nipple and all!) strolling down the home entertainment aisle feeding baby. Yes I know this is what they are intended for but when men aren't allowed to enter shirtless is this not a bit much? Had she been sat outside the store on the benches or in a cafe (if they had one) I guess i or anyone else wouldn't have batted an eyelid

Just interested in others opinions

Is this taking things a bit far or perhaps it is just a multitasking achievement extraordinaire?

[fruitpastille]

I would be slightly taken aback in the scenario described tbh but I accept that is more my issue. I dont think it is unusual to have that reaction but i would never show it. Personally I preferred to feed with a scarf or similar to cover up a little but then i was also faffing with shields. There is no way I could have ever done it while walking!

[JemIsMyNameNooneElseIsTheSame]

Just wondering what you're going to do with these opinions now you have them OP? P.S. Is that you Nigel?

[shitebag]

Mrsgently - bollocks.

I come from a family who are literally disgusted by the thought of breastfeeding and I was taught by them from the minute I asked what boobs were for that they were for feeding babies. In Primary school I was taught that breasts were for feeding babies. Sexualisation comes much later.

It is not "quite natural" to be uncomfortable by the sight of a naked breast, its us succumbing to social conditioning and that should be challenged.

[gingermopped]

Haha wonder if this was me, I was in sainsbury at 2ish today and was bf my baby, although I didn't enter the entertainment Isle, was mooching round clothing area whilst feeding.

[LashesandLipstick]

I meant I don't think people should be calling you an idiot for asking a question.

Those are enough reasons to be surprised, I wouldn't have thought that would make you uncomfortable though. But as long as you're not asking/expecting her to be covered then that's fine

[wtfisgoingonhere]

Fed up - no I'm not expecting everyone else to be uncomfortable just because I am, it was genuinely a question of opinions

Starbrite please don't call me an idiot I was genuinely interested. I didn't think it would piss people off. I knew people would have different opinions but certainly didn't post to piss people off nor am I ashamed of myself or see why I should be

[MrsGentlyBenevolent]

Lashes - most of us are brought up to cover up, especially in this day and age. Breast are more than sexual parts of the body, as much as female genital areas are more than just for sex, but that does not take away from the fact they are sexual. In this, I will concur the media makes them more so, but they already were if we keep to the point of what is natural in this age. Having sexual arousal from hands is an interesting theory, but not one that I've known to be prominent in human biology (I'm sure someone, somewhere, though...).

No, nobody says you have to get your breasts out, but a lot of the more.... serious, breastfeeding supporters would say you should, for baby sake, for the sake of women everywhere. So many women on here have said "I did it here, there and everywhere", well, good for you, but if someone was uncomfotable about it, or upset for whatever reason, they were not unreasonble to feel that way. Even if you 'don't care'.

[SaulGood]

I think you need to have a look at the language in your op. You were 'shocked', you offer a faux 'seriously?' like you disbelieve the woman's audacity, you were so shocked it warranted CAPSLOCK SHOUTING, and you make lots of use of !!! and ??

You also made suggestions about how her behaviour could or should have been better in order to avoid embarrassment. The implication is that you think she shouldn't have done this. Your later reference to her OH being there and your defence of your position also shows that you think what she was doing is wrong and she should have done differently.

It's not just a difference of opinion is it? You think the woman in the supermarket should have modified her behaviour.

It doesn't matter that it made you uncomfortable. It's okay if it did. Before I had my own children, I probably would have been taken aback by a woman breastfeeding so openly in a supermarket. That's okay I think. It's unexpected. To this day, I find quite a few things make me uncomfortable like people with strong perfume or ridiculous slogans on t-shirts. I tend to just avert my gaze and get on with it. I share public spaces with other people and as such, expect not to be 100% comfortable with other people's choices. I don't take issue with their legal choices to the extent that I am SHOCKED ON THE INTERNET AND THINK THESE PEOPLE SHOULD STOP!!!!!

I've bf in the supermarket. Usually in a sling and you wouldn't have noticed. There was a notable occasion when dd had been really unwell and I'd been housebound with her for a week. We had no milk, bread, nothing at all really. She was at a stage you won't be familiar with as you haven't experienced it but she was just recovering from being ill and was only comforted by breast milk and sleep. Otherwise, she just screamed unhappily. Your choices as a fellow supermarket user were dd latched onto my nipple, content and sleepy or her screaming desperately while I leaked milk all over myself and probably cried into my basket of shopping.

[Sleepyhoglet]

Ok..... I've done this. Couldn't do it now with my heavy lump of a 7 month old but when she was a new born, sure I did it!

[shitebag]

Apple that's the thing though, you're free to make that decision as others are to feed in public.

I never thought I'd be comfortable in public but I quickly realised that if I wanted to leave the house for more than 10 minutes I just had to get used to it.

Most people (myself included) are discreet about it and had many people stop to talk and not even realise what I was doing. The two top method is a god send BTW

[wtfisgoingonhere]

Starbrite Fwiw I don't care if male or female, I don't feel PERSONALLY it in anyway improves my experience in sainsburys seeing ANY ONES nipple

[Starbrite00]

Because you are shocked by a woman breastfeeding her baby.
Are you shocked seeing lingerie being modelled on posters or women walking around the shops on low cut tops.
This is why women dont breastfeed because of the shaming and because people like you are shocked by a little flesh... No more than you would see on a lady in a bikini.

[SaulGood]

Bingo! We've had 'wap our baps out' and 'tits'. Anybody want to say 'veiny' or describe a 'kid dangling from a tit'.

You don't have to be 100% comfortable with breast feeding. I do find the language used very disparaging and frankly, disappointing.

[Dawndonnaagain]

I'm not uncomfortable with breastfeeding but I am uncomfortable seeing women's breasts in the supermarket
Stay away from the magazine racks then.

[Starbrite00]

I very much doubt she was caring if your shopping trip was pleasant or not.
What a sheltered life you lead.

[BabyFeets]

A lady recently got thrown out of asda because she wanted to breast feed in store

[Iggi999]

Apple blossom, I don't think you're being old fashioned at all, I'd be very surprised if women throughout history had only fed their babies at home in front of their husbands. The babies would probably have died from starvation as women were too busy to sit at home like that.

[shitebag]

The vagina and breasts aren't comparible.

The vaginas primary function is reproduction which is obviously a sexual matter.

The breasts primary function is to feed an infant, that isn't (at least in my mind) sexual.

We may choose to use them for sexual purposes but that's not what they're for.

[Dawndonnaagain]

I don't feel PERSONALLY it in anyway improves my experience in sainsburys seeing ANY ONES nipple
That must have been bloody hard if she was feeding, in my experience the baby usually covers that part of the breast...

[girliefriend]

Tbh I would probably be a little surprised if I saw this as well (fwiw I have never seen someone walking around a shop/supermarket bfing)

I bf my own dd in most places but would have found it really awkward to walk and feed at the same time. You would have found me in the cafe with a cuppa if dd needed a feed

[Sparklingbrook]

I wouldn't have wanted to wander about doing it but wouldn't bother me if anyone else does. I probably wouldn't even notice TBH.

At least they weren't feeding the baby something from the supermarket before paying for it which on MN is crime of the century.

[LittleBearPad]

But it had nothing to do with you. Your experience of sainsburys wasn't affected unless you chose to be shocked. Actually it was probably better because the baby wasn't screaming with hunger.

[JassyRadlett]

I'm not uncomfortable with breastfeeding but I am uncomfortable seeing women's breasts in the supermarket

So, in which places is it ok for women to breastfeed because you're comfortable seeing breasts there?